Chapter 15 · Untitled Chapter

"Down!" Ryan barely got the word out before Ivy slammed her shoulder into his chest.

He hit the frozen mud hard enough to lose his breath. A bolt hissed over his throat and buried itself in the crate behind him.

"Move! Under the wagons!" Matthias hauled a driver from his seat and shoved him toward cover. "Crossbows on the ridge!"

Torches flared along both sides of the valley. Thirty men, maybe more, were pushing down the slope with their weapons raised.

Ryan rolled onto one knee and found Ivy beside him, teeth clenched, one hand pressed to her shoulder.

"You're hit."

"Congratulations. Your eyes still work." She sat up and yanked a second bolt from the leather strap on her arm. "That one was meant for you."

"So was the one in your shoulder."

"Mine hurts less than yours would've."

Blood spread across her sleeve.

Another volley cracked through the dark. Ryan caught her good arm and dragged her beneath the nearest wagon. He tore a strip from his cloak and pressed it against the wound.

"Hold still."

"You don't have to—"

"Shut up and hold still."

She did.